Enjoy a little short story that features my detective, Fix Larson. While there, feel free to purchase a copy of, "Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives Vol II". It contains my short story, "The Case of the Talking Board". Use coupon code LABOR25 for 25% off.
VIOLENCE OR "LIVE AND LET DIE"
When you write a mystery, the portrayal of violence is a given. How that violence is portrayed determines what kind of mystery you’re writing. Most of my favorite mysteries have fallen more towards the Cozy side. In such, the violence is discrete and easily covered up by the nearest sheet or oriental carpet. Agatha Christie was the Queen of the Cozy. Even modern writers like Louise Penny tend to keep the gore to a minimum.
That’s not to say I don’t like a gritty mystery/thriller. I enjoy Don Winslow, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, and even the craziness of Tim Dorsey. I’ve read Thomas Harris and am amazed how he can even make Hannibal Lechter accessible as a human being.
Currently, I’m toeing the line between a Cozy and a Thriller. Since it involves smuggling in modern Florida, there’s bound to be violence of some sort. And yet, I find myself hesitating to step over the killing line. The people involved are seriously corrupt. However, are they corrupt enough to kill? I guess that depends on the motive. At this point, I only see them killing in self defense. Still, at least two of the minor characters are capable of killing without provocation. They’ve already threatened a kid’s life.
There’s a scene coming up where things are about to blow apart. I’m curious to see how each character reacts. They’ve thrown me some surprises so far. There are some hinted at background stories that I am just starting to explore. That’s one of the most pleasurable things about writing for me. I love watching the story play out in the theater of my mind.
I’ll let you know how it turns out later.
In the meantime, what are your thoughts on violence in books? Is there such a thing as too much? Where do you draw the line. If you’re a writer, tell me how you handle the subject.
As always, thanks for reading.
SUPPORT AN AUTHOR
So, I finally received copies of the new anthology, Sherlock Holmes AND THE OCCULT DETECTIVES. My short story, THE CASE OF THE TALKING BOARD is a haunting little mystery where Sherlock Holmes teams up with his old friend, C. August Dupin. You might remember Dupin from Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE.. They travel to Balmoral Castle to assist Queen Victoria with what might be the ghost of Prince Albert.
To celebrate, I’m offering a special 30% discount for one week (7/10/20-7/17/20. Just use code HOLMES2020. Please visit my page at www.jajensenbooks.com or go direct to the product page at https://www.jajensenbooks.com/new-products/sherlock-holmes-and-the-occult-detectives-vol-ii
Thanks for your support!
EDUCATE YOURSELF
At the advice of a NYT Bestselling friend, I never talk politics on my writing platforms. Oh, I post a hell of a lot on my personal Facebook and Twitter pages. However, I’m a fiction writer. I make stuff up. Granted, many of my characterS have political and social views. But that’s their world.
Yet, I can’t let last week’s craziness go by without any comment. So, here it goes. If you want to make a better world, you need to educate yourself. Don’t let the news and social media dictate your views. Go to your nearest Indie Bookstore (www.warwicks.com) and buy some books on the subject. Don’t post another meme or comment until you study the history of what’s going on.
Ignorance kills. It always has and always will.
To be a good fiction writer, one has to learn to inhabit the hearts and minds of every type of person. The best villains are the ones where the writer understood that the character really did think that he was right in his actions. It’s easy to get into the mind of the hero. After all, we believe that mind is our own. But we’re not heroes to everyone just as we’re not villains to everyone.
So, educate yourself. It will make you a better writer and a better human being.
LIVING IN A STEPHEN KING WORLD
Stephen King comes up with some pretty outlandish stories. At least, on the surface they might seem that way. No, a giant dome isn’t going to suddenly cover an entire town. A teenage girl is not going to use mind power to destroy a prom and kill the kids that bully her. And, a pandemic will not wipe out most of the earth in an epic battle between good and evil.
However, King books are not really about those external things.
When it comes down to it, his books are about how people react to adversity. He sets up some crazy circumstances and tells his characters,”Go for it”. Then, we get to follow the extremes of human nature. While King allows certain stereotypes to populate the story, he’s best when he allows us to be surprised by someone rising above their supposed abilities. Although some pretty crappy things happen in his books, you can tell that he still has hope for human nature to overcome evil.
Which brings me to the pandemic we’re experiencing.
If social media has done one thing, it’s exposed a portion of our society that is mean and selfish. Granted, it’s always been there. Only now, instead of it being hidden in the shadows, it paraded like a badge. Fortunately, it’s still a minority. Social media makes you think that it’s huge. But, the majority of people are living decent lives and don’t have the time to trash other people.
So, when I sit down every day to write, I don’t let the small group of unhappy people to take over my stories. Don’t get me wrong, I still use them. However, I keep them in their place. They will never be allowed to rule my worlds. Because, they’ll never be able to rule the real world.
Stay safe out there. Things are pretty scary. However, there are good people out there. Bad times won’t last. In the meantime, read a good book. Just maybe stay away from The Stand right now.
BEST LAID PLANS
So, It looks like I kind of blew the idea of weekly posts. Well, I was jazzed at selling a bunch of books at the San Diego Festival of Books and feeling the whole “writer’s life” thing. Then, came the excuses. And now, the world is under quarantine as a pandemic rules the planet.
While many writers are using the stay-at-home orders as a kick in the butt for their writing, I’m still working 40+ hours a week at the bookstore, filling orders for other writer’s books. Still, I’ve kept to the commitment of writing every day of 2020. Granted, some of those days are only a paragraph. But hey, that counts.
The good news in my writing world is that the Sherlock Holmes anthology that bought my short story should be hitting the stores either at the end of this month or June. The publisher did a Kickstarter campaign for the book that generated over $10K.
Meanwhile, I’m continuing to work on a new mystery novel, staring my detective, Fix Larson. The story was buggging me to be written. So, I dropped the other novel I was working on so I could capture the excitement. Now, the question is if readers will like a smart ass detective that’s the same size as Peter Dinklage. It’s a modern Southern mystery along the lines of Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen.
And, I’m going to try to get back on track with this weekly post.
Take care and be safe out there.
Masked Writer
LIVING THE WRITER'S LIFE
Last month, I attended the 3rd annual San Diego Festival of Books. Although not as big as the LA Book Festival, it’s growing and gaining a good reputation. For one day, over 20,000 book lovers braved the warm Southern California sun to meet over 120 authors and shop at booths from the best bookstores of San Diego.
I was one of those authors.
Although I’ve signed books at traditional bookstore signings, this was the first time I sold books and signed at a festival. Our table represented the San Diego Chapter of the Horror Writers Association (HWA). Ironically, we were positioned just past the kid’s tent. While some older ladies would see our horror banner and cringe as they passed us by, a surprising number of people stopped by and raved about their love of a good scary story.
I only brought seven copies of an anthology that carried my short story, “Kenneth is Drowning”. But, by the end of the day, I had sold and signed all of my copies. Additionally, I signed about another 7-8 copies that a fellow writer had brought.
There’s no feeling quite like people buying your art and signing your name to it. Although, big name authors might get tired of it, I’ll never lose the exhilaration of connecting with the reader on such a personal level. I never expect to get rich writing fiction. However, I’ll never be able to stop. If even just one person is touched by my stories, it will be worth it.
Meanwhile, there’s so many stories to write. I’ve just finished a short mystery about a 4’6” private detective who lives on a boat in Florida. I continue to work my way through a novel based on Edgar Allan Poe’s detective, C. Auguste Dupin.
As I wrote in a previous post, writer’s block does not exist for me. I just need more time to write. Where are the Gertrude Steins of the world.
Have a great week. Read something good.
MY DAY JOB
Very few writers make a living at writing. For every Stephen King, there are thousands of unknowns, plugging away in obscurity. Even those writers who have a few publishing credits still need a day job to pay the bills.
I’ve been in bookselling for about 30 years. I’ve completed the Hat Trick of working for the three major chains (Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Books-A-Million). Granted, Borders has become the retail Dodo bird. Now, I work for an Independent Bookstore.
Working for a bookstore is great training for a writer. Even better, I’m also the Local Author Coordinator. Also, I’ve worked as an assistant buyer when I was with Borders. So, I’ve seen the process that writers go through from the start to finish.
Also, being a bookseller, I’m expected to read more than the average person. I’ve got to at least know a little about every book that we carry in the store. Granted, my actual reading will always be based on what I like to read. Still, I can direct a customer to the latest popular romance title just as easily as my favorite historical mystery.
All this exposure to literature informs my writing, just as everyday life does. I read the other day that natural writers never stop writing. Even when we’re away from the keyboard or pen, we’re still thinking about and planning our stories. Even my daily commute is not wasted. I’m either listening to an audio book or tapping away on my phone. Thank you Scrivener for having an IOS app.
Will I ever be able to quit my “day job” to write full time? Maybe. However, the odds are not in my favor. Still, as a bookseller, I not only see the great books being published, I also see the crap out there as well. So, I have undying hope.
Either way, I’ll never stop writing. I wrote my first short story in elementary school. There’s no stopping now.
Have a great writing week. Please leave a comment or say hello.
WRITER'S BLOCK (DOES IT EXIST?)
I’ll put it right out there. For me, there’s no such things as writer’s block. I’m never at a loss for ideas or projects. There’s not a minute in the day that I don’t wish I could be making stuff up.
There are, however, lots of things that get in the way of my writing.
WORK - I work in a bookstore. Very few writers actually make a living as a writer. With a 50 minute commute both ways to work and 9 hours there, that’s 10 hours and 40 minutes that I can’t write. Add onto that the fatigue after working retail, and it’s hard to get motivated to put the butt in the chair.
PROCRASTINATION - Even though I’m thinking about my stories and characters constantly, I often make up excuses to avoid actually sitting down to do the work. Creating something from nothing isn’t easy. Oh, it’s easy when it’s knocking around in my mind. But translating that into screen time takes discipline.
LIFE - The world doesn’t stop so that you can sit down and create. There are bills to pay, family to keep in touch with, groceries to buy, meals to cook, etc. Every minute spent on the daily grind of life steals time from writing.
So, those are the three main things that I have to contend with while I try to write. None of them are writer’s block. They’re all just adjustments. I don’t have the magic key to solving them. Instead, I get up each day and try to do better.
The most important thing for a successful writer to do is to not give up. If you didn’t write today, then write tomorrow. If your story got rejected, tighten it up and send it out again. If you don’t know where your story is going, set it aside and work on something new. But above all, don’t stop.
If you keep writing, you’ve done better than 90% of anyone who’s said they want to write. If you don’t write, 100% of the trash that gets published is better than your best intentions. Don’t compare your writing to anyone else. Write what makes you happy. If you keep working on it, there will be a reader for it. Hell, there may even be a market for it as well.
Tell me what you think. Do you believe in writer’s block? What keeps you from writing?
Thanks for reading. Have a great writing week.
-James
ORGANIZING A NOVEL
Since I write Historical Mysteries as well as horror, I belong to the class of fiction writers known as “plotters”. I want to have the framework in place before I let my detective work his way through the puzzle. I know where the beats need to hit and how the structure of the acts follows a classic detective narrative.
Now within that framework, my characters have full license to take me on surprising tangents and often do so without my knowing what they might say or do in a particular situation. So, in that part of the process, I become a bit of a “Pantser” (seat of your pants).
A couple of years ago, had the extreme privilege of spending a couple of hours with the late horror master, Dennis Etchison. Aside from being a little awestruck of being in the presence of a master story teller, it was a an unexpected pleasure to learn that we both received, “The Muse” in a similar way. We both described the experience of watching a movie play out in our minds and working like crazy to record those images on paper.
So, within the bare erector set of my novel, I record a movie that runs across the screen behind my eyes. As such, I’m never quite sure what my characters are going to say or do until it’s done.
I’ve attached a photo that shows a small part of the framework I use. I borrowed a lot of the elements from J.K. Rowling. With it, I’m able to know where each character is at any given time. Along with that paper, I also use Aeon Timeline 2.0 software to maintain a proper chronology. It syncs perfectly with my Scrivener writing program.
Please let me know what works for you in the comments. If you’re in the mood for a free scary story, check out my Southern Gothic Horror, Haunting Annabelle, over on Wattpad https://my.w.tt/YIQ0icvCJY.
Have a great week of writing and thanks for reading.
